When
I told people I was working on a story about the Jews of Kaifeng, some
asked whether they’re really Jews. I’m sure you’ve been asked the same.
How did you become interested in them, and how do you answer that
question?

Fifteen years ago, when I was director of Jewish studies at Carmel School
in Perth, I was invited to lecture on Jewish topics at Nanjing
University, where one of the first Jewish studies departments in China
had been launched a few years earlier. At the final lecture, Xu Xin, the
professor who hosted me, gave me his book “The Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng.”
Until then, I had never heard of the presence of Jews in Kaifeng or
their synagogue that endured for seven centuries. This sparked an
interest in learning more about this community. As well, the enthusiasm
of Chinese students towards Jews and Judaism made me want to learn more
about Chinese culture.

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